1901:
thirteen children in St. Louis died after receiving diphtheria antitoxin contaminated with tetanus spores. Spurred
Congress into passing the Biologics
Control Act.
1906: Shocking disclosures of insanitary
conditions in meat-packing plants, the
use of poisonous preservatives and dyes in foods, and cure-all claims for worthless and dangerous patent
medicines were the major problems
leading to the enactment of these laws.
1937:
ELIXIR OF SULFANILAMIDE, containing the poisonous solvent diethylene glycol, kills 107 persons, many of whom
are children, dramatizing the need to
establish drug safety before marketing and to enact the pending food and drug law.